The House And Senate Pass The Laken Riley Act, Despite AOC’s Objections

The US House and Senate passed the Laken Riley Act, by a vote of 263 to 156 in the House of Representatives. This came after the Senate passed the bill 64-35. In a time of extreme partisanship, the Laken Riley Act passed with a good amount of bipartisan support.

46 Democrats in the House of Representatives, and 12 Democrats in the Senate joined every single congressional Republican in voting for this bill to pass. The measure directs federal immigration enforcement to detain and deport those without legal status charged with minor theft or shoplifting.

The bill empowers the attorneys general of states to sue the federal government if their residents feel they have been harmed by national immigration policies. Some Democrats argued that bill does not come with new funding for immigration control measures, and thus will be too expensive to fully implement.

The bill’s namesake, Laken Riley, 22, was murdered in February 2024, by an illegal immigrant, who had been arrested twice, in New York and in Georgia, months before the killing, but was released ahead of trial.

Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, from the left flank of her party, argued that the GOP, who brought this bill to the floor, does not care about keeping criminals and rule breakers off the streets.

Ocasio-Cortez referenced President Trump’s pardoning of January 6th rioters, with GOP support, as an example of the Republican Party not being concerned about protecting the rule of law.

With its passage in the House and Senate, President Trump is set to sign this bill shortly, giving him an early legislative victory. Action on illegal immigration, both on the ground, and on Capitol Hill, has started, but is certainly far from being finished.